INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard said Monday he didn't receive all of the money he was owed from a California company he had an endorsement deal with in a business relationship that is under investigation by the NBA, but he insisted there was no wrongdoing.
The Los Angeles Clippers superstar spoke for the first time publicly on the matter at the team's media day after a report earlier this month by journalist Pablo Torre alleged the team violated the NBA's salary cap rules involving a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and the now-bankrupt California-based sustainability services company called Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC.
The league has hired an outside firm to run its investigation.
“The NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing and that’s it,” Leonard said. “It’s not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”
The team has strongly denied that any rules were broken and said it welcomed the league’s investigation.
“We’re eager for the truth to come out,” Lawrence Frank, the team's president of basketball operations, said while reading a statement. “The assumptions and conclusions that have been made are disappointing and upsetting, and we expect the investigation will show that these allegations are wrong.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made a $50 million investment in Aspiration, and the company and the team announced a $300 million partnership in September 2021. That was about a month after Leonard signed a four-year, $176 million extension with the Clippers.
“I’m hurt for Steve. He’s one of the best people and most honorable people I’ve ever met,” Frank said. “He does things the right way for the right reasons and he constantly reminds us to stay on the right side of the rules.”
The team ended its relationship with Aspiration after two years, saying the contract was in default. Aspiration’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty in August after facing federal charges of wire fraud. Prosecutors said he defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million, adding that “Aspiration’s financial statements were inaccurate and reflected much higher revenue than the company in fact received.”
“Let’s not forget,” Frank said, “this was a case of widespread fraud and there were a lot of different victims.”
Aspiration owed Leonard about $7 million of the $28 million deal it had with him when the company filed for bankruptcy.
“I got to look back at the books,” Leonard said, “but it was more than that, for sure.”
Asked if he received the money he was owed, Leonard replied, “Uh, no, but the company went belly up. It was fraud as everyone knows.”
As for the allegation that he did nothing in exchange for being paid by Aspiration, Leonard said, “I don’t think it’s accurate."
He added, "It’s old. This is all new to you guys. The company went bankrupt awhile ago so we already knew this was going to happen.”
Leonard made it clear his focus is on the upcoming season. The Clippers open training camp at Intuit Dome on Tuesday.
“I don’t read headlines or new conspiracy theories or anything like that,” he said.
The league previously looked into claims that Leonard’s representatives asked for certain perks that would be considered cap circumventions when he was a free agent several years ago. Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, is currently under scrutiny for his role in the endorsement deal.
Asked if Robertson ever sought extra benefits for Leonard that would violate the salary cap, Frank said, “Dennis knows the rules, Kawhi knows the rules, Mitch Frankel knows the rules and we know the rules.”
Frankel is Leonard's agent.
The league can issue stiff penalties if cap rules are found to have been broken by a team. That could include a fine of up to $7.5 million, the voiding of contracts and the forfeiture of future draft picks.
“The accusations made against us are serious and they don’t line up with my experience, my reality,” Frank said. “We are eager for the whole truth, the whole picture to be revealed. We’re very confident in what it will show.”
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